Tuesday, May 31

Photo A Day - May - Week 4

I've made it through another month with photo-a-day which brings us up to 5 months of the year with photo-a-day... almost half way there! :)

May 25 - Princess Catherine
One of Elizabeth's little crowns which suits Catherine perfectly. And didn't you know that princesses have corn on the cob for breakfast?


May 25 - Princess Catherine


May 26 - Paper Tissue Pom Poms
Interesting textures in this tissue paper pom pom I have lying around the house now that Catherine's party is over.

May 26 - Tissue Paper Pom Pom


May 27 - And The Last Chair Was Just Right
Looking too cute in her new winter dress (one of many clothes presents she received on her birthday).

May 27 - And The Last Chair Was Just Right


May 28 - Rides On Daddy's Legs
She had so much fun having "flying" rides on Daddy's legs.

May 28 - Rides On Daddy's Legs


May 29 - Looking More Grown Up Every Day
Elizabeth is such a big girl these days... I love her at this age... she makes me laugh and smile with her conversations and she is such a wonderful daughter and a considerate sister. Did you know every night before she goes to bed, she tiptoes into Catherine's room before she goes to bed to whisper "goodnight" to her and blow her kiss. It's a little routine she started not too long after Catherine was born and she's kept it up ever since.

May 29 - Looking More Grown Up Every Day


May 30 - New Party Trick
Catherine learnt a new party trick over the weekend... she can put her hands on her head on demand. She's uber cute when she does it... and sometimes she does it for no reason just because she knows it's cute and she can make us smile.

May 30 - New Party Trick


May 31 - Last Signs Of Autumn
I thought this photo was rather apt, seeing as it's the last day of autumn. I had to take Catherine to have her 12 month immunizations this afternoon... I had driven down the street when I thought there was a good chance Catherine might nap in the car after the injections... so I drove back home and grabbed my camera. Glad I did, because my hunch turned out to be correct. After Catherine's shots (which she was really not happy about... she was crying before the needle had even touched her!), she fell asleep about 10 minutes later in the car, so I drove to this place with a row of maple trees which Vicky had told me about... Had some fun getting some interesting wide angles and catching some afternoon light)... then hopped back in the car and drove around, scouting for some new and interesting locations (and I did find some interesting things!)... and then 40 mins later Catherine woke up and we went and picked up Elizabeth from kindy. Perfect timing... :).

May 31 - Last Signs Of Autumn

Sunday, May 29

Thought For The Day


the earth without art


My latest time-waster (as if I need another thing to waste time on) is Pinterest... A beautiful miscellany of images, it's a wonderful way to find inspiration, cool projects, pretty things and the just plain random. Collate them into visually engaging pinboards and it's a wonderful reference for a cluttered mind. Yesterday I installed the Pinterest iPhone app... and now I have an awesome way to while away the time when I'm giving Catherine a 4am feed or patting her to sleep for a nap. I happened upon the quote above while trawling the Pinterest boards, and I love it. How boring would our world be without art in it's various forms? Music, literature, fashion, photography, painting, textiles, food... to name a few... So many different ways to be creative and to make the world a little more interesting and a little more beautiful...

So what have you done today to make our earth a little less "eh"?


The "earth" without "art" is just "eh"...

Saturday, May 28

Brown Paper Bag Fun Video


Brown Paper Fun from Clara on Vimeo.




Our huge 30x40 inch canvas from Sheye came wrapped in brown paper. Who knew that large sheets of brown paper could provide so much amusement to two little people? And so many laughs for us big people... :)

Friday, May 27

Catherine's First Birthday (in photos + a slideshow)

Our baby Catherine is not so much a baby anymore... I can't believe she is one and it's beyond belief how fast these last 12 months have passed by.

Her party last weekend was a low key one... just a few close friends and Bao and Ty made the trip up from Adelaide especially to celebrate with us... Catherine wore a little white ao dai (a Vietnamese traditional dress) at her party... it's the very same one that my mum sewed by hand which I wore at my first birthday party, and which Elizabeth also wore at her first birthday party. I love that my Mum was still able to be a part of our day in this small way... It makes me smile and get all sentimental to think we have all been able to share the same little outfit on our milestone birthday.

One year olds don't do much at parties... We played pass the parcel... and the other kids were content to play in the yard while Catherine pretty much spent 90% of the party sitting in her high chair watching on while eating spring rolls which are her favourite food at the moment. She spotted them when they were freshly cooked and refused to have a morning nap until she'd eaten one... and then she had 4 at the party... and 3 for dinner... 8 in total all day! That's a lot of spring rolls for a little child! She unwrapped some presents (with the help of Elizabeth, who loved helping her!) and enjoyed shaking and playing with her abundance of new clothes that she received and also with her toys (a postbox that Elizabeth picked out, 2 xylophones (one from Chu Phong and one from us), a pelican thing, and a tray of wooden blocks, a cogwheel snail and some books) She also loves the new spotted bowl set that her godmother Vicky got her... (well actually, I'm sure that's more me... but it's so pretty!) and loves that her godfather Tuyen all the way over in Ireland sent her a birthday card with a morsecode baby-talk message in it! So lucky, so loved and so blessed. Catherine must have known it was a special day on her birthday, because she hardly slept all day and was in a remarkably happy mood.

Just a quick condensed summary of party in a few photos -


Birthday Storyboard3-700px

Birthday Storyboard 1-700px

Birthday Storyboard2-700px


I also did a pre-party cake smash shoot with a giant cupcake, the day before her party... I've seen a lot of cake smash shoots and it always looks like it's frantic and crazy as the child gets into the cake. But Catherine (much like her sister), is a cautious child. She was quite tentative and sat there looking at the cake for ages... slowly suss-ing it out... but once she figured out it tasted yum and that there was cake in there, she got into it and really enjoyed it. She was really quite drawn to the giant cherry on top (which was just a ball of fondant coloured with a heap of red food colouring)...


First-Encounter-With-A-Giant-Cupcake-pp-700px

Cupcake2-700px


And just a few little things about what our 1 year old is like at the moment -

She can stand unassisted for several seconds, but when she realises she's standing, she freaks out and grabs onto me or the couch.

She hates being spoon food and prefers to try to feed herself. Favourite food is meat, meat and meat. Followed by jatz biscuits and broccoli. Dislikes most fruit.

She is a food beggar... as soon as she sees anybody eating (me, Phan, Elizabeth), she rushes over and makes a lot of noise until you give her some food.

She loves her big sister lots... and loves following her around.

Her favourite song is "Old McDonald Had A Farm"... which she laughs and claps to... I have to sing this song to her while changing her nappy to stop her from trying to crawl off the change table.

She likes to clap her hands and dance... she has this little boppy wiggle that is hilarious... I need to catch it on video.

She has a lot of personality for a little person and her cheeky grin could soften a heart of stone.

I'll finish this post with Catherine's first year in photos... slideshow making is not my forte, but this has been made with love and makes me so nostalgic as I look back and see how much she has grown in these last 12 months.





We love you, our beautiful Catherine... We have been changed and so blessed with your presence in our lives... xoxo

Wednesday, May 25

Photo A Day - May - Week 3

I have lots and lots of photos to share of Catherine's 1st Birthday, an awesome lunch at Brett's Wharf and a beautiful afternoon shoot with Elizabeth... but I'm needing to find some time to write those posts... which probably won't happen until Bao and Ty (who are up visiting us for Catherine's birthday) head home later this week...

So in the meantime, here's a quick photo-a-day wrap up -

May 18 - Brown Paper Fun
Our canvas from Sheye arrived wrapped in a huge sheet of brown paper... which the girls decided to play with by madly rustling and shaking it.... they thought it was the best fun... who would have thought brown paper could have brought so much joy?


May 18 - Brown Paper Fun


May 19 - Food Beggar
Catherine's a little food beggar... doesn't matter who's eating, or what you're eating... she will come and beg for some the minute she sees that you're eating! Here she is stealing some of Bac's ruoc toasted sandwich...

May 19 - Food Beggar


May 20 - Cake Smash
I did a pre-birthday cake smash shoot with Catherine... she was rather tentative at first, but once she got into it, she did enjoy it.

May 20 - Cake Smash


May 21 - And She Turned One
The baby of the family made her big milestone today... the big 1! Separate post will being going up about the birthday, but here's a photo from the day of her dressed in her ao dai (which my mum made and I wore on my first birthday and which Elizabeth wore on her first birthday) surrounded by her presents. She is a very lucky girl.

May 21 - Catherine is 1


May 22 - Cheeky Sisters
All dressed up in their coordinating outfits ready for lunch at Brett's Wharf.
May 22 - Cheeky Sisters

May 23 - Spelling Fail
I bought these cute little leggings for Catherine's birthday from an online store about 2 weeks ago... but it wasn't until I put them on her for the first time that I took a closer look and realised something wasn't quite right with them! Don't know how I missed this glaringly obvious!

May 23 - Spelling Fail


May 24 - Another Convert
While embarking on my photography journey, along the way I have managed to interest, convert and inspire a number of family and friends into also taking up photography as a hobby... *insert evil laugh here*... Honestly, I love that my photography has inspired others to want to take better photos... and my beautiful SIL Bao is the latest person to join the club... I talked through the triangle of exposure with her and taught her some of the basics ... So here she is taking some of her first photos in manual mode... Proud of her... :)

May 24 - Another Convert

Wednesday, May 18

Our Enchanted Picnic - Photoshoot with Sheye Rosemeyer

Well those of you who know me would know that I am a huge fan of Sheye Rosemeyer as a person and as a photographer... I have followed her for a few years and I love the beautiful, open and honest way she writes about her life... I love the way she works the light, I love her creativity, I love her style... I'm beginning to sound like I have a girl crush on her... Maybe I do... :)? So when Phan set the wheels in motion by contacting her around the time of my birthday last year to organise a family photoshoot with her, I was *excited*. Like *REALLY EXCITED*. I had dreamed of having a family shoot with Sheye for (literally) years... And it appeared all the stars and planets were aligned and the universe was in sync to make it happen for us... This was our opportunity and the timing was perfect seeing as this is our last year in Brisbane before we go back to Adelaide at the end of the year and my girls are at a perfectly lovely, adorable age that I want to freeze for a moment in time forever.

Once we set a date for a weekend in March, Sheye asked what kind of styling/shoot I had in mind. My first thought was "Anything..." Knowing her style, I knew I would just love any photos Sheye took, just as long as it was of our family and I was actually in some of them. You see, that's the thing about being the "photographer" in the family... you're never actually *in* the photos... And as much as I love taking photos, and as much as I consider myself a rather non-photogenic person, I do actually want to be in some of the photos and I want the girls to be able to look back and see all us together... I really wish there were more photos of my mum and I together... it's one of my biggest regrets that there are only a handful of photos of us together as I was growing up... and even less of me as an adult with her... Oh, if I could turn back time and get more photos with her before she left us... So that is why this shoot meant so much to me... I wanted something beautiful to remember the Here and the Now.

A few weeks later, I started to seriously think about how I wanted the shoot to look and I came up with the idea of an afternoon picnic... Something light-hearted... Something that captured some gorgeous afternoon light... Ultimately, something timeless and classic that we could look back on for many years to come and remember a beautiful moment in time.

I sent that idea through to Sheye and then in a manic moment of inspiration, I decided go through all our wardrobes and style what we were going to wear. And then I decided to photograph what we were going to wear/use as props and I emailed through this storyboard. I wanted the shoot to feel casual, but I wanted us to look classic and I wanted myself and girls all in dresses to make us all look sweet and feminine... :) In the end I did change some of the things, but on the whole we stuck to the colour scheme of light blue, pink and white -


Photoshoot Styling-Ideas


Sheye pondered whether we might be open to a row boat theme... and I interpreted that to mean being *in* a row boat, so I completely shot that idea down 'cos while we are boatpeople (in a refugee sense), none of us actually like being in boats ... I would rather be in labour than be in a boat... (yes really! We did whale watching a few years back and it was the longest 5 hours of my life! The only time I have been more ill is when I had gastro!)... I did find out later that Sheye had actually meant more of a row boat in the distance on a lake type thing (which would have been fine!), but my inital reaction to the idea was enough to put Sheye off that whole concept... LOL...

Then I stumbled across this photoshoot and fell in love with the gorgeous huge tree in these images and sent it through to Sheye for a bit of inspiration -

Vintage Picnic Shoot

Some more conversation and Sheye was on a mission to find us a big willow-y tree...

And then she came up with the vision of hanging paper lanterns off a tree... *sigh*... As soon as she mentioned that, I knew we were on the same wavelength and this was going to be something wonderful...

The weeks passed... and all of a sudden the weekend of the shoot was almost upon us... and the weather gods were forecasting grey skies and thunderstorms... a rather major glitch in our plans!!!

So we had to postpone... I was a bit disappointed, but figured a few more days of waiting when I'd been waiting years for this was not going to matter in the grand scheme of things... and I really had my heart set on capturing some gorgeous light in these images, so it was going to be worth waiting for the right moment...

In a way, the delay in our plans was kind of good, 'cos I had the random idea strike me a couple of days later to make a homemade kite to use as a prop in the shoot... :)
I made a practise one and got Elizabeth to try it around in the backyard... and let's say while it was pretty, it wasn't exactly aerodynamic... When I showed Phan that night I believe his first comment to me was "That thing is not going to fly."... Pffft.... a practical man he is... when I asked for his suggestion on what would make it fly, he said "You need some plastic..."... at which point, I tuned out because that was really not the look I was going for! So I made the actual kite that night from some lovely pink paper, some long bamboo skewers and a roll of cotton twine, and just prepared myself for it to not fly and to be purely used as a prop.

A couple of days later, and suddenly we had the perfect weather conditions... not too hot (I had fears we were going to be melting and sweating in the afternoon heat! Despite living here 4 years, we have not adapted to the Brisbane humidity!)... not too cloudy... and while Sheye had initially found us a perfect tree spot somewhere, she had to abort that idea when a snake casually wandered past her! So a last minute change of plans and instead we shot in this small secluded forest-y area a stones throw from Sheye's place...

I spent the whole day preparing for the shoot... Making sure the girls were well rested and fed so they would be in a good mood... Finding time to do my hair and make up... Getting together all our props and things... I even took a photo -


Stuff for the Photoshoot


A couple of missed phonescalls on my phone (thank goodness Phan is reliable with his mobile), a short drive and we were there. We wandered past a hedge... down a grassy embankment... and the scene that greeted us was absolutely magical... The paper lanterns were so pretty and so perfect hanging over a great big pink picnic blanket... The afternoon light was divine... It was just gorgeous and even better than what I had envisaged in my mind... Fran and Sheye had a done a superb job of setting up for our enchanted picnic... we added a few of our own little props (an extra picnic rug, a picnic basket, some pink paper cups and some throw cushions) which just complimented Sheye's pink picnic blanket, pink bottle of lemonade and her little sweet bird cage delightfully... Our scene was set.

So what was it like meeting Miss Sheye? Well she is just as lovely in person as she comes across in her blog... Beautiful, warm and friendly... She set me at ease the moment we met... (And here I was thinking I was going to be so nervous being in the presence of my celebrity photographer!) She was awesome to watch in action... and the amazing Miss Fran was there assisting her and is just as lovely too... they make a great team... :)

The shoot went splendidly... The girls were sooo well behaved... Elizabeth kept saying "I like having a picnic in the woods"... and Catherine was all refreshed and happy from an afternoon nap... the girls were interacting sooo adorably... They were just perfect... I couldn't have asked for anything more from them...

The time flew by... and we were having such a good time, we completely forgot about using the kite as a prop until Elizabeth remembered... And she was soooo excited about playing with the kite... She sang this funny little song that went "I'm flying a kite in the sky..." and danced and frolicked around so joyfully... it was hilarious to watch... and I felt a little sorry for Sheye, because Elizabeth was moving around like crazy and wouldn't stay still and I just wasn't sure how she was going to capture anything decent... but credit to her... she did captured some of the most stunning moments of Elizabeth with her kite...

Then just as we thought we were done, I remember the parasols which I had bought specifically for the shoot... So we quickly grabbed a few more shots with the parasols and just as we finished, as if on cue, the afternoon light faded... It had been the perfect afternoon...

2 weeks later (2 very *long* weeks might I add!) I got an email from Fran saying the finishing touches to our gallery were being added and we would get a link the following day to the gallery. The anticipation could not have been greater! I refreshed my email all afternoon waiting for that link... and then early evening... that little window I had been waiting for popped up... I had mail... :)

Phan, Elizabeth and I sat down to look at the photos together... and... WOW! It was breathtaking... Absolutely beautiful... a wonderful compilation of candid family moments combined with absolutely magical enchanting art... I know I had quite high expectations of our shoot from the very beginning... I even tried to consciously tone down my expectations a little in that small chance that I might be a little disappointed, not because I didn't think Sheye wouldn't be able to deliver our vision, but because I felt like my expectations might almost be unrealistically high because I had been anticipating it for so long and my expectations might have been ridiculous. And because I'd been dreaming of this shoot for what feels like forever, I just didn't want to feel disappointed in anyway... Does that make any sense? It probably doesn't... But ultimately, I really need not have worried. The images surpassed my expecations.... They truly are perfect in every way...

Thanks for reading this rather verbose post from me... There was just so much that went on in the planning and preparing that I wanted to write about... I just loved every aspect of planning and preparing and then the actual shoot experience was just perfect.... Now let me show you exactly why I am more than overjoyed, thrilled, and excited (how many more adjectives can I use to describe this?) with how the whole experience turned out -


Photoshoot with Sheye Rosemeyer

Photoshoot with Sheye Rosemeyer

Photoshoot with Sheye Rosemeyer

Photoshoot with Sheye Rosemeyer

Photoshoot with Sheye Rosemeyer

Photoshoot with Sheye Rosemeyer

Photoshoot with Sheye Rosemeyer

Photoshoot with Sheye Rosemeyer

Photoshoot with Sheye Rosemeyer
Photoshoot with Sheye Rosemeyer

Photoshoot with Sheye Rosemeyer




There are really just so many beautiful images I can't possibly share them all in this blog post... but if you're interested in seeing all the images from our shoot, head on over to Sheye's website which has had a gorgeous makeover - http://www.sheyerosemeyer.com, wait for the absolutely enchanting animation to load and then click on "just a moment" which will divert to her photography site and you'll see us featured as the opening image! (I'm still uber excited about that!) If you click into her photography website and select "Recent", our entire gallery is under "Clara & Phan".

Our canvas and prints were delivered today and the 30x40" canvas (which is the very first image of the whole picnic scene) looks absolutely magnificient in real life... I keep looking at it (Yes, conceited huh? But it's so gorgeous!) I will have to take a photo once it's on the wall (Phan started to put the hooks in the wall, but we had a hook casualty when it got stuck in a screw that was stuck in the wall... he's picking up a new one tomorrow... can't wait to have it hanging up!)

To the wonderful Miss Sheye... thank you again! Thank you for being the beautiful you and for using your amazing talent to give me these priceless memories. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

And thanks to those reading for letting me share my joy and excitement... xoxo

Tuesday, May 17

Photo A Day - May - Week 2

Here's the wrap up for last week

May 10 - Standing Around
She's cruising furniture and quite likes standing and pushing this wooden maze block thing around the house. She's also standing by herself for slightly longer periods, but freaks out if you get excited and cheer at her for doing so!


May 10 - Standing Around


May 11 - Fruit of the Vine
Okay, really uninspired photo here, but I'd had a crapola night waking every 20 minutes with Catherine *all night long*... So I basically grabbed my camera and dumped it in the car and took a photo of this passionfruit vine not far from where Elizabeth goes to kindy... Catherine was also cranky and on my hip at the time of the photo taking, so I was lacking time and inspiration to do anything spectacular...

May 11 - Fruit of the Vine


May 12 - Mmm.... Broccoli...
Brocolli is definitely in her top 10 favourite foods. (And yes, her fringe needs a trim... I refuse to cut her hair until after her 1st birthday...)

May 12 - Mmmm... Broccoli...


May 13 - Noah vs Rainbow Hedgehog
Noah and Vinnie came to visit us and he took quite a liking to Rosie our Rainbow Hedgehog and loved trying to eat her all the while having the most fascinated expression on his face.

May 13 - Noah vs Rainbow Hedgehog


May 14 - Autumn Water Fun
We went over to Phan's work colleagues house for lunch (we've been trying to tee up a date for something like 2 years and only now really got our butts in gear since we are leaving at the end of the year!) They have an awesome pool... Elizabeth's face lit up when she saw it! We borrowed a swimming outfit and towel and Elizabeth dived right on in... had an absolute ball... Yes, it's apparently still warm enough here to go swimming at the moment...

May 14 - Autumn Water Fun


May 15 - Chrysalis to Butterfly
We went to Claire's 4th birthday party today... It was awesome... beautiful day, yummy food, cool cake, lovely company, well organised and the face painting was a hit. Elizabeth loved being transformed into a butterfly.

May 15 - Chrysalis-to-Butterfly-700px


May 16 - Hi Tech Generation
Not even one year old yet she knows if she touches the ipad screen she can make stuff happen... She doesn't understand what the stuff is, but she likes seeing the screen change!

May 16 - Hi Tech Generation


May 17 - International Families Day
It was International Families Day on the weekend, so our kindy celebrated by having a shared lunch with lots of international foods (I made the ever popular spring rolls). Elizabeth also wore her ao dai (which she calls her "ya ya") and everybody thought she looked beautiful... herself included... :)

May 17 - International Families Week

Saturday, May 14

How The World Appears Between 16-35mm

Time for some photos from the new baby, the 16-35mm f/2.8... While it's never going to replace my love for my workhorse 24-70mm, I do really love the different perspective and how it's giving me the ability to see and capture life differently...

The New Baby
First up, a shot of the lens itself... :) (taken with the 100mm macro)


New Baby


Yum Yum Gelati
The first photo I took using the lens while out at lunch... these were tartufo and baci gelati balls we had for dessert... yum!

Dessert


Run away....
A view of Elizabeth running down boardwalk around New Farm Park... pretty sure this is newly built and must have built after the January floods.

On the Boardwalk


Swinging Fun
Daddy, Catherine and Elizabeth and fun on the swings... Note how Elizabeth swings on her tummy... That is so typically her.... She hates sitting on swings conventionally, but will swing on them on her tummy... weird... Also note... that awesome sunflare... :)

Swinging Fun


Kisses for Mummy
I'm so lucky... :)

Kisses For Mummy


In A Forest Glen
Well, we weren't really, but with that glowing ethereal morning light we can imagine... :)

IMG_7413-pp-web


Contemplation
Watching the Brisbane river... a sister photo to the previous one I posted as a my photo a day on the 6th of May.

Contemplation

Tuesday, May 10

Photo A Day - May 3 to May 9

Yes, I'm still on the photo a day bandwagon... :) So I thought I better do a weekly wrap up -

May 3 - Cutie Patootie
She's such a little cutie...


May 3 - Cutie Patootie


May 4 - Dreaming of Country Fields
Yes, I know, you've seen this photo in a previous post, but that was the only photo I took that day... :)

May 4 - Dreaming of Country Fields


May 5 - The Apple

I was scrutinizing shadows on this day...

May 5 - The Apple


May 6 - By The River

Taken with my new 16-35mm f/2.8 by the Brisbane River... really loving the perspective this lens gives at it's widest...

May 6 - By the River


May 7 - Morning Light

Again taken with the 16-35mm... this lovely spot is at a park not far from where we live.

May 7 - Morning Light


May 8 - Mother's Day Lollies
These were my mother's day lollies from Elizabeth... I spoke to a couple of other mum's at kindy and they also received lollies... appears they were a popular choice!

May 8 - Mother's Day Lollies


May 9 - Freshly Napped
All happy from her morning nap... taken with the 16-35mm.

May 9 - Freshly Napped